On 11 September 2023, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted to approve a mandatory standard to reduce the hazard of ingestion of button cell or coin cell batteries by children aged six and under.

The new rule is the result of Reese's Law, enacted in memory of Reese Hamsmith, an 18-month-old girl in Texas who died after swallowing a button cell battery from a remote control. Under Reese's Law, the CPSC voted to adopt the voluntary standard ANSI/UL 4200A-2023, Standard for Safety for Products Incorporating Button or Coin Cell Batteries of Lithium Technologies, as a mandatory consumer product safety rule for consumer products containing button or coin cell batteries.

Requirements

Child-resistant compartment: consumer products covered by the standard must have a child-resistant battery compartment. This can be achieved by requiring a tool such as a screwdriver or coin to open the battery compartment, or by requiring at least two independent and simultaneous actions to open it manually. The provision is intended to prevent young children from easily accessing batteries.

Packaging requirements: after 12 February 2023, any button or coin cell battery sold, manufactured for sale, imported into the United States or included separately in a consumer product must meet the child-resistant packaging requirements of the poison prevention packaging standard. The packaging requirements do not apply to button or coin cell batteries manufactured or imported on or before 12 February 2023.

Performance testing: consumer products complying with the standard must pass a series of performance tests simulating reasonably foreseeable use or misuse.

Labelling requirements: the mandatory standard includes specific labelling requirements for button or coin cell battery packaging and for consumer products containing such batteries, intended to warn consumers of the ingestion hazard to children.

According to the Commission's statement, the CPSC will begin enforcing the rule 180 days after its publication in the Federal Register.